Grandma could not help but cry when she saw Brother and Sister, and she chided herself for it. It was the first time I saw her cry. “Oh, my rich Altai!” she said, “the yurt is full again!” Then she sniffed both their heads, paused, and stroked them several times with a trembling hand before letting them go.

Later the two of them sat on either side of Grandma and talked about school and everything they had seen and heard, again as if competing with each other.

The jealousy I had suffered in the past when Brother and Sister moved too close to Grandma seemed cured—I no longer felt it. On the contrary, I was grateful to all three of them for being kind to each other.

Mother lost her voice when she first saw Brother and Sister. She simply stared at them with glistening eyes. When she regained her voice, her words were not aimed at her children but at the sky, the mountains, and the rivers. Brother and Sister stood with their heads bowed while Mother sniffed them. They did not say a word. To me they seemed to avoid being close to Mother in the beginning. But after a little while, they would not leave her side.

I had counted on more sweets and possibly also a new cloth, even though the old one still lay brand-new in our chest of drawers, wrapped around the remaining sugar. Now I realized that I had indeed relied on this new cloth and had thought ahead about giving up the old one for the parents to dry their faces and hands. But for the time being my expectations remained unfulfilled. This was not because Brother and Sister had done less well at school; no, both had finished the quarter with very good results and had again been given an award, although now it was called a present. The top students were going to be given their presents by the Old White Man under the jolka in the evening. But Father had not wanted to wait till evening and then have to ride home during the night; it was because of us waiting in the ail that he had not stayed. The mere idea that they might not have made it home by sunset made me feel sick and took the luster off the Old White Man’s presents. Nevertheless, I cautiously asked if this meant that the presents were now lost. No, I was told, the teachers would receive and keep them and later pass them on to those for whom they were intended. That was good.